4-Yr-Old in Albany Finds Loaded Gun, Fires Shot Thinking It’s a Toy

Wow. Just Wow. Imagine how horribly this could have turned out.

On Thursday afternoon, a 4-year-old child found a handgun on an Albany street underneath a parked car, and according to the Albany Police the child actually fired a shot thinking that the loaded gun was just a toy.  Thankfully, no one was hurt but an incident like this is quite disturbing to say the least.

A press release on the Albany Police Department Facebook page issued on Friday explains what happened Thursday afternoon in Albany.  According to the report, Albany police responded to a call on Elk Street that a handgun had been discovered by a resident near the sidewalk.

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What Albany Police discovered next is almost incomprehensible.

Upon further investigation, police were able to ascertain that the handgun was left underneath a parked car and became visible once the vehicle drove away.  After the vehicle left, the handgun became exposed and it was picked up by a 4-year-old child.

The gun appears to have some markings painted on it, which does give it the look of a toy and thinking that it was, the child actually fired a shot.

Thankfully - and somewhat miraculously - nobody was hurt.

According to the release by Albany police, "the toddler immediately dropped the gun and ran to his mother who was on the front porch cleaning nearby."

A disturbed Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins recognized the severity of the incident saying that the outcome "could have ended much differently and is a reminder of the dangers posed when these types of weapons are on our streets."